The Israeli Occupation Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, stated that reaching a prisoner exchange deal is a “first priority”, even at the cost of delaying the planned invasion of the southern border city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

In an interview with Hebrew Channel 12, Katz said that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) will “suspend action one and for all” if a deal is made to return the captives currently held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023.

Katz praised Egypt for its mediating role between “Israel” and Hamas in the ongoing negotiations, but refused to comment on Qatar’s efforts, saying “I do not want to hand out grades.”

"This is a country with which we have a peace agreement, and also common interests. [Egypt] really does everything it can to help,” Katz said.

Several senior “Israeli” officials have stated that plans for the invasion of Rafah have already been drawn out. However, the Israeli Occupation is facing a lot of pushback from the United States, Western and neighboring countries in opposition to the plan.

The border city of Rafah currently houses a massive percentage of Gaza's displaced population - which is estimated at 2.1 million people before the start of the aggression, and any offensive by the IOF would exacerbate the already staggering humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

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